I am feeling that feeling settle in. That almost to Holy Week feeling.

We are having extraordinarily gorgeous weather here in the PNW this winter. I feel guilty about it as I know so many are dealing with treacherous and relentless snow.

Spring has sprung here, and truth be told I'm already at resurrection. Already there. It's hard not to be.

Today, there is no part of me that wants to sit with grief, torture and the worst of our humanity.

Yet here we are.

So many of the songs listed in these posts help me deal with that part of my humanity—the part that hurts others, even myself, and most often those I love. Many of these songs remind me that there is another way to be. Another way to be.

Other ways to love, forgive, save and also reflect on injustice and injury

Let me know if you'll be trying any of these this songs this year. I'd love to hear from you.

Over the years many of the Grace folk, regular musicians and otherwise, have written songs—lyrics, music or both. I am including some of these chants/songs here. Caroline Clucas and Scott Lawrence are both huge contributors to our Grace music circle. Their music and poetry is thoughtful and very moving. Feel free to use these songs in your services with credits listed below.

Story of Isaac by Leonard Cohen (additional lyrics below by Jim Friedrich)

I offered no resistance

My hands were bound in silence

I waited for the end.

As I lay upon that altar

my father’s hand was trembling

when he slowly raised his knife.

The sun stood still above us

the desert air was soundless

no one shouted no.

A terrible purgation

with nothing left to save us

nor anything held back.

But if the child dies,

the child who is the promise

how can the story live?

Who’s really being tested:

is it Abraham or Isaac

or maybe even God?

Just when the shadow deepens

when life betrays its future

the sacrifice defers:

the knife becomes an angel

the lamb cries from the thicket

the hand of God provides.

Was it all about surrender

the pain of dispossession

the test of what we love?

Can we lay it on the altar

our ego and attachment

and live in naked trust?

Or is the price too high:

to burn our dreams to ashes

and let the laughter die?

Must we always pass this way

the valley of the shadow

the awful time of trial?

Hallelujah by Leonard Cohen with supplemental lyrics by Scott Lawrence

I so love Rufus Wainwright. Have seen him in live performance several times. He does not disappoint. Ah. For this service two high school singers will sing the verses and the congregation will sing the chorus.